pounce1
/paʊns
/verb [no object]
1(Of an animal or bird of prey) spring or swoop suddenly so as to catch prey: as he watched, a mink pounced on the vole...
- The cat pounced on it and took the meat to the back of the bar, under a pool table with a scarred, green felt surface.
- One of the monkeys pounced on a woman holding a child, biting her arm before leaping back into the tree.
- I was quite happy with that, so I couldn't believe it when the dog pounced on my dog.
1.1(Of a person) spring forward suddenly so as to attack or seize someone or something: the gang pounced on him and knocked him to the ground...
- Suddenly her pounced on her and they both went under and came up laughing.
- We were escorted into this dressing room, where all these people pounced on us with cases of make-up and racks of clothing.
- I wanted to jump up and hug Jimmy tightly, but he already pounced on me.
Synonyms
jump on, spring on, leap on, swoop (down) on, dive at, drop down on, lunge at, bound at, fall on, set on, make a grab for, take by surprise, take unawares, catch off-guard, attack suddenly;
ambush, mug
informal jump
1.2Notice and take swift advantage of a mistake or sign of weakness: the paper pounced on her admission that she is still a member of CND...
- Pedants pounce on such tell-tale signs that what purports to be an image of Shakespeare is really an idealised image of the biographer himself.
- Critics will pounce on their every mistake as evidence that paying teachers for performance is a bad idea.
- Then the Tigers pounce on opponents' mistakes.
noun
1A sudden swoop or spring.The time between the pounce and the jump seemed an eternity, although it was only seconds....
- Really and truly it was never going to end in this contest against a home side, who have won their last number of games on the pounce.
- Intensely intimate couplings, ballistic kicks, feral pounces and feisty rolling hips raise the energy level in his Philadelphia rehearsal studio into the red zone.
Synonyms
leap, spring, jump, swoop, dive, lunge, bound
2 archaic A bird’s claw.
Origin
Late Middle English (as a noun denoting a tool for stamping or punching): origin obscure, perhaps from puncheon1. The noun sense 'a bird's claw' arose in the late 15th century and gave rise to the verb (late 17th century).
Rhymes
pounce2
/paʊns/noun [mass noun]
1A fine resinous powder formerly used to prevent ink from spreading on unglazed paper or to prepare parchment to receive writing.
2Powdered charcoal or other fine powder dusted over a perforated pattern to transfer the design to the object beneath.As actual practice can demonstrate, if a pricked design is pounced from its verso, the pounce marks register more distinctly, than if pounced from the recto.
verb [with object]
1Smooth down by rubbing with pounce or pumice.The example shown in Plate IX is unusual for its green ground, which was achieved by pouncing the surface with copper oxide while the clay was damp.
2Transfer (a design) by the use of pounce.Surviving examples of drawings that have been pounced are indeed disfigured by cloudy smears of charcoal dust.
Origin
Late 16th century (as a verb): from French poncer, based on Latin pumex 'pumice'.